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Christine Babic: When She Dies, You Too Will Die

On view December 1-23, 2016

“When She Dies, You Too Will Die” is Christine Babic’s first solo show in Seattle. After receiving the CoCA “Un-Contained” residency Christine felt an overwhelming responsibility to drive 17 hours to Cannonball, North Dakota, and protest in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. As a member of the Chugach-Sugpiaq Tribe, Christine grew up in the midst of the Exxon Valdez disaster where she bore witness to the rampant destruction of Native lands and resources. “When She Dies, You Too Will Die,” is a love letter inspired by the devastating and unspoken history of colonization written to every victim of “The American Genocide of the Native” long dead, and a call to arms for those generations of survivors beaten and exhausted. “When She Dies, You Too Will Die,” silently and poignantly screams out that we will not be displaced again, we will not be assimilated, our culture will not be drowned in your pools of oil and blood.

“Some day the earth will weep, she will beg for her life, she will cry with tears of blood. You will make a choice if you will help her or let her die, and when she dies you too will die.”

~John Hollow Horn , Oglala Sioux

Artist Bio:

Christine Babic was born in Cordova, Alaska and is a member of the Chugach Suqpiaq tribe. Growing up, she participated in a variety of traditional practices focusing on skin sewing and dance. This led her to attend Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she focused on creating her own vocabulary and methodology surrounding Contemporary Indigenous Art. Most recently, Christine travelled from Seattle to Cannonball, North Dakota on the Standing Rock Reservation to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

We hope you can join us on Thursday, December 1 from 6-9pm, for the opening reception for Christine Babic’s first solo exhibition, “When She Dies, You Too Will Die.”

Title: When She Dies, You Too Will Die

Location: CoCA Gallery 114 3rd Ave South, Seattle WA 98104

Dates: December 1st- 26th

Opening Reception: Thursday, December 1, 2016, 6-9pm

Part of the Pioneer Square Art Walk
Gallery Hours: Thursday-Saturday, 10:30am-4:30pm, or by appointment.

I’ve been to CUBA! Let me share my impressions about the architecture, the people and the art scene along the streets and in the galleries of this unique country. You will see some of my favorite photos that I’m certain will inspire several future “Cuban” paintings. I will talk about working with these photo references and explain my personal process of turning a photo into a painting. Bring your curiosity and questions.
Sponsored by: ART du Jour Gallery, Medford, Oregon
Date: October 8, 2016 at 1:30 pm
Lecture Location: Adams Room at the Medford Public Library
Thank You for your $20 donation to the ART du Jour Gallery.
Reception following the Lecture at the ART du Jour Gallery from 3 to 4 pm, 213 E. Main Street, Medford, Oregon.For more information contact: Mildred Clarke… [email protected]

May World Art Classes at Kindred Spirits

with Cathy Dorris

Indonesian Elephant Rattle

4-5 inch round shaker

(a mixed media sculpture with clay)

A two part class: Wednesday, May 4th and Wednesday, May 11thTime: 6-9 PMCost: $45 includes both classes, all materials and one beverage of choiceTo Register: E-mail me, call or text me (541-821-0651) or register at Kindred Spirits (hours- Tues-Thurs 4-9, Fri. 4-11, Sat 1-6)
106 Talent Ave. Talent, OR

I will be starting art workshops on Saturdays and weekend retreats. Stay tuned!

Center on Contemporary Art presents “JuarezX: Dragged Across Borders”

Politically Charged Art Exhibition Challenges Socio Political Borders

Seattle, WA: From May 5 – 28, 2016 CoCA presents “JuárezX, Dragged Across Borders,” co-curated by Joseph C. Roberts and Peter Bill. The exhibit presents work by undocumented immigrants and artists from Juarez, Mexico to explore the intersection of race, class, and migrant status at the US and Mexico border. Simultaneously, the exhibit presents readings and interactive workshops that invite visitors to consider social norms, or borders, created around gender and sexuality. CoCA is proud to present an exhibition and support artists that dissolve boundaries and invite visitors to question borders as places that allow fixed notions of identity to bend, stretch, and even disappear.
The exhibit features work by artists from Juárez, Mexico who have literally and conceptually been “dragged” across borders. Yorch Otte, an urban muralist, serigrapher and leader of the Art Collective “Rezizte”, presents graffiti art on panel depicting life on the border. Gabriela Hernandez, an undocumented Seaburry Fellow and New Mexico Highlands University alum, features a series of 6’x3’ banners that represent struggles of LGBTQ and undocumented people. Mario Romero juxtaposes topics of the occult, scientific and astronomical with the border. Pulsoans Ans, graffiti artist and ANS Art Gallery owner, commands spray paint canisters to produce pieces that play with the idea of life and death as they apply to the identities in the margins. Peter Bill, Assistant Professor of New Media at Western New Mexico University, and Héctor Domínguez Ruvalcaba, Associate Professor of Queer & Border Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, documented their projections of guerrilla video texts onto the streets of Ciudad Juarez. Sarita Corderito adds witty political commentary and tasty painting/collage chops to the mix.
Special presentations include Héctor Domínguez Ruvalcaba, PhD’s reading from his work “Aesthetics and Politics of the US-Mexico Border urban art,” at 7pm during Pioneer Square artwalk on May 5. At Noon on Friday, May 6, Gabriela Hernandez will present Jotería Undocumented Workshop, a participatory workshop exploring gender identity and immigration. CoCA is able to bring this important conversation to Seattle audiences and acknowledge LGBTQ individuals in the fight for immigration rights with the support from Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture.

Travel the World with Art

Hands on Art and Wine experience with Cathy Dorris

This is another two part class. Wednesday, April 6th from 6-9 and finishes on Wednesday, April 13th from 6-9. All materials are provided. Cost is $45 which includes a first beverage of your choice. Register by e-mail, at Kindred Spirits (hours 4-9 Tues-Sat), or by call or texting Cathy at 541-821-0651.

Travel the World with Art!

Hands on Art and Wine Experience with Cathy Dorris

Japanese Kimono Paper Sculpture
Approx. 24′ wide x 18 ” high

Travel the World with Art! The next project in this series of classes is a Japanese Kimono Paper Sculpture. This two part class takes place this Wednesday, March 23 from 6-9 and Wednesday, March 30 from 6-9. All materials are provided.

Clatsop Community College is honored to present Uku-Aoteroa-The Spirit of Materials, a ten-day cultural exchange with six visiting indigenous Maori clay artists from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Invited artists include Colleen Waata Urlich, Baye Riddell, Dorothy Waetford, Todd Douglas, Carla Ruka, and Rhonda Halliday. These highly respected artists are supported by New Zealand Maori Art organizations, Creative New Zealand and Toi Maori Aotearoa to act as cultural representatives to communities around the world. The exchange will feature a series of events in the Astoria community that will provide a rare opportunity to interact with people from a unique indigenous culture.

A special exhibition of Maori clay artworks will be held in the CCC Art Center Gallery, 1799 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, from May 7 to July 30. This exhibit will open with a welcoming of the artists on Thursday, May 7 at 6:00 PM. The Maori artists will be in attendance and available to share their connections to their work and its surrounding mythological and historical origins.

The artists will also give a free public presentation at the CCC Performing Arts Center, 588 16th Street, Astoria, called, Uku-Aotearoa-The Spirit of Materials on Friday, May 8 from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM. This presentation will include a conversation that will engage the community by examining critical issues surrounding cultural landscape, collective and individual vision, and the value of myth and memory. Nancy Cook, CCC Writing Instructor, will lead artists in a discussion on the spirit of materials and related relevant questions.

Artists, students and community members are also invited to participate in two all-day hands-on clay workshops led by the Maori artists on Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM for both days in the CCC Art Center Ceramics Studio, 1799 Lexington Avenue, Astoria. Seating is limited for this event; please contact [email protected] for additional information.

Clay artist Colleen Waata Urlich has been made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit (ONZM) for her service to Maori arts in the New Year Honours. 30 December 2014 Northern Advocate Photograph by John Stone

The Spirit of Materials Cultural Exchange is centered around the broad potential of the arts and humanities, and will cultivate the North Coast community’s knowledge of post-colonial indigenous identity and creativity. Events will include sharing of stories and meals, challenging dialogue, cultural/collaborative art-making workshops, and educational outreach. Community members will have an opportunity to learn about and consider the traditional and evolving meaning of oceanic arts. Our community will also have the opportunity to develop relationships through personal interaction and examination of shared values. This exchange continues the rich cross-cultural history that has existed at mouth of the Columbia for thousands of years.

Colleen Waata Urlich, who is leading the traveling Maori collective with Baye Riddell, has been sculpting, molding and nurturing Maori art for years. She is a Maori clay artist and senior foundation member of the National body of Maori clay workers. Colleen has been involved with various Maori art initiatives. She is a founding member and coordinator for the Maori contemporary clay artists’ movement that begun in the 1980s. Colleen, along with Manos Nathan, Maori clay artist, participated in the Pacific Rim Exhibition in 2012, an indigenous gathering of artists from around the Pacific Rim that took place at Clatsop Community College.

“Our return to Astoria with a group of younger clay artists, who have yet to experience the warmth and hospitality offered to us on our first visit, has been keenly anticipated. Our regret is that Manos Nathan has been unable to join us but all the current participants worked with Richard Rowland, ceramic artist and CCC Instructor, in January 2014, during the International Indigenous Artists Gathering “Kokiri Putahi,” in Kaikohe at Kohewhata Marae – a traditional meeting place – which brought together some 145 indigenous artists from Alaska to Australia,” says Urlich.

Seven Days, by Baye Riddell, 2012

Baye Riddell began his vocation as a ceramicist in 1973 and has been working as a full-time ceramicist ever since. In 1987, he co-founded Nga Kaihanga Uku, a Maori clay workers’ organization. “When I took up pottery in the early 70s there were no Maori ceramic traditions to refer to and so my first attempts to express my culture in fired clay were very tentative and clumsy. I was nicknamed “the Native” in the local pottery circles at the time who were mainly influenced by Japanese and European approaches to ceramics. Since those days however I have been privileged to be a part of the birth and growth of an exciting Maori ceramic movement which has forged a unique identity in the ceramic world.”

Dorothy Waetford’s early career began as a performing artist as a member of the contemporary Maori dance company Taiao based in Auckland. Excited by developments in the contemporary Maori art scene, her interest led her to choosing clay as a preferred medium for art making. “The rich, cultural heritage I come from is the ground beneath my feet in the space I work from. In that space, I search for sculptural forms connecting the past with the present and use clay as a medium to transfigure the spiritual into physical, contemporary space.”

Paihau (fin of a fish), 2013: Dorothy Waetford

Todd Douglas is a fulltime ceramic artist living and working at Muriwai Beach. Primarily self-taught, Todd’s work is recognized for utilizing a broad range of ceramic techniques and surface treatments as well as combining materials such as clay, wood, lashing and LED lighting. “As soon as I touched clay, I was hooked. Bringing together the four elements – fire, earth, air and water, clay is like no other material. It has fascinating physical properties such as its malleability but it also has many cultural and spiritual significances. As it is at the heart of so many creation stories, it’s a reminder of the interconnectedness between people/s.”

Carla Ruka is a contemporary Maori clay sculptress. Her inspiration and ideas descend from her ancestors. The clay artworks and images she has developed over the years are based on the korero of her Marae (Mahuri), Kapa haka (Maori Performing Arts), Maori Spirituality, indigenous cultures, her whanau and the Taitokerau/Hokianga area. “Clay is my therapy. It molds and develops images of my wairura (spirit). As a contemporary Maori Clay Artist, the artworks and images I have created over the years descend from my ancestors and are inspired by the people around me.” “I continue to surround myself in cultural and community activities.”

Rhonda Halliday is a Maori clay artist whose work focuses on learning more about her cultural heritages, Maori and Pakeha, and finding an identity that integrates the two. “Our ancestors used metaphors to express themselves in their artworks; to tell a story, an historical account of a person/s or an expression of thoughts and beliefs. My work is also a metaphor used to express personal feelings from research into the many areas of history between my Māori and Pākeha connections. There are still many more conversations to be captured in clay.”

“These gifted artists have been selected by the Maori to honor and keep the life of their ancestors and their communities alive. Clatsop Community College has brought another educational and cultural experience that can impact our blended and evolving global community.” Richard Rowland

For information on any of the events please visit https://www.clatsopcc.edu/community/art-gallery/2015-maori-art-exhibit-cultural-exchange or contact [email protected] ; 503- 338-2449.

Reception Saturday, February 7 from 6–7:30pm

The art exhibit on display at South Stage Cellars right now is a truly special one. Every year the Cellar’s “Rising Stars” music competition benefits a local nonprofit, and this year they chose LIFE Art, a Medford-based program helping Rogue Valley youth overcome a wide range of difficulties by learning to paint with guidance from artist mentors. I had the opportunity to meet Phil Ortega, founder of LIFE Art, when he and several of the program’s mentors and students were hanging their show. I was deeply moved by the story of LIFE Art and impressed not only by the caring and generous heart of this compassionate man, but the overall quality, ingenuity and expression in the youths’ paintings.

In the spring of 2010, Mr. Ortega was working late at night in the shop where he fixes old cars as a hobby when he heard a sound behind the building. Stepping outside, he discovered a group of teens tagging abandoned rail cars. He asked what they were doing, and they told him they were painting the tag name of a youth who committed suicide in 2009. Among the taggers were the late youth’s brother and cousin. Recognizing their genuine need to create a memorial for their deceased relative and friend, as well as some real artistic talent, Mr. Ortega bought the boys blank canvases, brushes and paint that very day to help them channel the memory of their loved one onto something permanent. He then began thinking about how he could develop a program to support kids like these.

Painting by Nicole Paradis

The LIFE Art program uses visual and creative arts as a means for youth to express their feelings and communicate with others about their experiences. Art projects address the multiplicity of the issues young people are involved in. Factors including difficult family relationships and school experiences, substance use, community risk factors (i.e., gangs, criminality) and cultural pressures are all addressed through guided discussions with caring adults and LIFE Art Mentors.

South Stage Cellars Rising Stars has chosen to donate all the profits from the 2015 music competition to this amazing local nonprofit. We hope you plan to come to Jacksonville on February 7, 2015 to enjoy our Chinese New Year parade and celebration. There will be additional arts and cultural opportunities, including an authentic Origami class at Art Presence Art Center, next to the historic Courthouse. But whatever you do, come to South Stage Cellars at 125 S. Third Street from 6–7:30pm for a reception for the LIFE Art youth artists! Join the teens, mentors and director of LIFE Art, enjoy their work along with live music and complimentary appetizers, and consider helping to empower one of their young artists with a purchase—If there are any left to buy! Paintings were selling as they were placed on the walls. Ortega looks forward to the event, and to highlighting the art and mentorships LIFE Art encourages. “We might even have some poetry or a short story reading by a teen if we can,” he added. The LIFE Art exhibition will continue through the end of March at South Stage Cellars Tasting Room.

YMCA Mural Work, Jose and EMA

SSC Rising Stars, now in its 4th year, was the brainchild of Porscha Schiller, Tasting Room and Marketing Events Manager of South Stage Cellars. The competition has grown every year until it outgrew the tasting room altogether. It will now be held across the street, upstairs in historic Redmen’s Hall. Schiller was quoted in the Jacksonville Review as saying, “Everyone involved in the music competition and LIFE Art is extremely proud of the work these kids are doing and so very grateful to the community for the amazing support this life-changing nonprofit group is getting!”

Tickets for the 4th-annual South Stage Cellars Rising Stars Competition are on sale now at South Stage Cellars in Jacksonville, the Music Coop in Ashland and online at www.southstagecellars.com. For more information, call 541-899-9120.

Mello Saldivar Anaya Working on Mural

More About LIFE Art

Mr. Ortega wrote us, saying, “We started with the support of the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant and Jackson County Suicide Prevention Coordinator Michelle Morales. Their guidance was instrumental in creating something unique. We started with a few kids and have grown to serving over 200 local kids every month. We help kids cope with a multitude of stresses. Suicide prevention was our starting focus, but we have grown to include any kid with the idea that group art projects create a certain climate so that the kids are not identified as fragile, but as artists.”

The Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Memorial grant was awarded to several counties in the state of Oregon from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2010. The grants became available through the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act of 2004, the first federal suicide prevention program targeted towards youth. The Act is named after the son of former Oregon senator Gordon H. Smith, who took his own life in 2003.

“I manage LIFE Art so that kids can learn coping skills through art and guided mentorships. I believe that art tells a story, and when kids can demonstrate their voice through art, it relives a sense of hurt for some, joy for most…but when people admire the art they have created, it Validates Their Feelings! That is the LIFE Art mission in a nutshell.” ~Phil Ortega

LIFE Art Today

Thanks to a grant from The Providence Health Plan Community Benefit Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, LIFE Art in partnership with On Track opened the LIFE Track Youth Center & Art Gallery at 106 S. Grape Street in Medford. This project gives youth a space to express themselves creatively, as well as having a place where they can drop in and find the support of caring mentors. In addition, the center offers FREE art classes every Saturday for youth 10-22 years old. “It’s a cool project, but it is coming to an end this year. LIFE Art is looking for a new place to call home starting this summer. My house served as a place for the kids for a few years, but we are way too big for that anymore!” says Ortega, “Hopefully we will find a place where we can partner with other artists for various art projects and a sharing of experiences and skills can take place. Maybe one of your readers has a space in mind we could lease.”

Ortega tells us that new LIFE Art mural projects are underway, in partnership with the Gang Task Force, which is comprised of many Jackson County agencies working to help connect teens to programs that encourage better lifestyle choices. The murals, painted on large scale canvases, will be displayed around our community starting with Central Art Supply in Medford. They will help us display the art on the exterior of their building as a way to encourage teens to create more ART ON Canvas. The art will also be used as the backstage art to SSC Rising Star Events.

“We believe that when artists (teens) see their art displayed in our community they will feel validated and accepted. More artists will seek programs like LIFE Art to join. It is up to the adults in our community to create a caring environment for our youth to connect with and it starts with setting a positive example. We believe the art will stimulate conversation and empower our youth,” Mr. Ortega says.

The funding for these murals are through the YDC and the KEY ( Keep Encouraging Youth) Project in partnership with LIFE Art, Spartan Boxing, Juvenile Justice and Kids Unlimited.

“Bubbles,” by Alondra Flores

Funding ends October 15, 2015 for LIFE Art’s other programs:

G.E.M.S.

G.E.M.S. (Girls Expressing Many Strengths) is an after school program geared toward helping young teens learn to cope with life stressors through artistic expression and group support. The program is in partnership with Eagle Point School District and Medford School District.

One–2–One Mentorship Program

One-2-One Mentorship is designed to connect with students who need attention beyond group activities. Many of our participants are dealing with real life issues and struggles around poverty, relationships, family, substance abuse, and education. Connecting with certain students on a regular basis establishes a dependable connection with a caring adult role model.

LIFE Art New Logo

Art With A Purpose

The Art with a Purpose sessions are about creating art that is focused on social issues that students face daily. Suicide prevention, self-image, anti-bullying campaigns, gang prevention and promoting civility are all topics that can be better addressed by our model: “Marketing for Kids Created by Kids.”

Now five years old, the LIFE Art program is in partnership with United Way, Jackson County Health and Human Services, Una Voz, Eastburn Photography LLC, Lenart Art Education Foundation and Oregon Community Foundation (Latino Partnership Project). Mr. Ortega and the LIFE Art staff and mentors thank Jackson County School District 9 Leadership and Staff for making it possible to offer their services within our schools and for the partnerships that support our students.

Come to the reception ~ meet Phil Ortega and the LIFE Art youth artists and mentors in person to learn more! You can help…come to the Rising Stars music competition nights, from which 100% of the profits will benefit LIFE Art!

The Southern Oregon Artists Resource is proud to welcome John Dodero and his popular raku pottery to the Visual Artists directory! A friend of SOAR and fellow board member of the Art Presence Art Center in Jacksonville, his works sell across the country and around the world, so it’s a special pleasure to see his work represented in the context of the southern Oregon arts community. You can see his work in person at Art Presence nearly every month.

When starting pottery in 1970, most potters were following the Asian or European tradition of design, but John’s inspiration came from the many fine examples of Native American ceramic design: Mimbres, Sikyatki and Pre Columbian were his primary departure points. His focus has been to combine, distill and contemporize these styles and to define the archetypes from which they evolved. John has spent the last 25 years exploring Asian motifs and finding a fusion/commonality with the West, developing techniques and materials employed for surface decoration to achieve a classic yet natural appearance. The hope is to produce works that will not be clichés and thus withstand the test of time. The archetypes and designs in the works are meaningful to him, but he feels the viewer should derive their own meaning. “I feel each piece is made for someone; I just have to wait for him or her to claim it.”

John Dodero has developed a simple and powerful design style to complement any décor. The strong ceremonial style and natural gourd shapes developed over many years of Native American-inspired work have been blended with a distinctly Asian look. The fusion of Asian and Native American design has proven to be traditional, yet contemporary. The calm presence satisfies practical décor needs without being cliché or appearing as ethno kitsch.

The Raku process was brought to the West coast from Japan in the late 1960s, and over the years it has diverged quite a bit from its Japanese origin. The U.S. approach has revolved around a post fire reduction, as opposed to the Japanese style of plunging the ware in water after being removed from the kiln. This difference in firing technique gives the Western style a distinctive crackle pattern when carbon is trapped in the crazing, giving the bare clay a carbon luster.

The approach taken by Dodero Studio is the use of thick or fat glazes, striving for a random crazing pattern over a simple refined form. A wide range of coloring oxides are used in the glazes to meet the many décor needs. “We want to match your couch.” As odd as this might sound, he understands you have to live with his pots and wants to produce ware to complement your décor and create a harmonious environment.

John also offers workshops for those interested in learning from his decades of experience. Two recent hands-on workshops, one on raku pottery creation and another on slipcasting, were presented at his Jacksonville studio, but all is not lost! He will be sharing his knowledge on these topics again in a retreat setting in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in February! Click here to learn more and register to attend – what a great call for a winter break!

I caught up with Carole Karemera during the “hellwach” (bright-awake) 6th International Theatre Festival for young audiences at the Helios Theater in Hamm, later also witnessed one of their performances of “Little Hill”, a theatre play for people from 4 years old, and recorded the after-performance talk with Carole and her team. Carol pursued a successful career as a saxophone player, film and theatre actress and contemporary dancer. She is the director and founding member of the Ishyo Art Centre in Kigale.

The main part of our conversation is dedicated to Carole’s description of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and especially, the role that women played in the genocide. Carole then recounts for us the courageous journey of women in the arts in Rwanda, who picked up the task of listening carefully to the needs of their society and the daunting process of reworking their historical “heritage”, the social trauma of genocide together with perpetrators and victims and the new generations.

In 2005, together with eight other women, they founded a cultural initiative to respond to the needs of their country and society through arts and creative projects, beginning with storytelling in schools, later in bars. The initiative became “Ishyo Art Centre”, a vibrant cultural centre in Kigale. The centre offers space and opportunities for artists to develop and produce new work as well as a varied programme of events and workshops, which seeks to make arts and culture available for everyone.

Carole emphasizes the heightened awareness of women in the arts in Rwanda for the troubles and needs of societies elsewhere on the continent and their wish, hope and willingness to share their valuable experiences widely, and especially with their sistaz in Africa.

With this post, we are opening a new additional page of Contributions “from the far sides of the Zambezi” in our audio-library of the stories of African women. The posts will be on the blog for 10 days, then they will move to the special page of contributions with a small reference and link remaining on the front page.

Carole Karemera on the All Africa Sound Map. Contribute your recordings and place African arts and culture on the global map!